The Copycat Gamer
by ssj3gohan007
Summary: Take a highly impressionable alien teen with the power to replicate anything that he can see, hear, taste, touch, or smell, and stick him into a world where movies, anime, manga, comic books, the internet, and hi-tech virtual reality games are the norm. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Prologue: The Arrival

I was inspired by my friend, SaintInfernalNeos, to write this story. I highly recommend everyone to check out his work. It is truly exceptional and he is a fantastic writer. So sharing a story idea that I had with him, he managed to convinced me to try my hand at it. This will be my first story on fanfiction, so I am counting on everyone to help me improve my writing with any constructive criticism and helpful suggestions that they can provide.

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Sword Art Online or any of its characters nor any other franchise or media that is mentioned within the story. Kawahara Reki owns SAO and the other anime/manga/comics or any other media mentioned belong to their respective owners.

* * *

 **Prologue: The Arrival**

 **August 29th, 2008. Valkor Prime, Valkor system. Hangar Bay 081, 02:14...**

Valkor Prime, a terrestrial and habitable Earth-like planet, is home to a technologically advanced species of humanoid beings known as the Valkoria-jin. It was once a very beautiful world, full of life, an abundance of tall, oxygen-producing trees, and blooming flowers, clean air, pure water, and natural beauty. Unfortunately, due to pollution and the gradual destruction of nature and the environment, for the sake of progress and technological advancement, it has become a mere shadow of its former glory.

The Valkoria-jin had a special ability that made them unique and stand out from the rest of the various species in the known universe, they could instantly copy or replicate anything that they have ever seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled. This ability works by manipulating and controlling reality itself, but only if the desired ability, object, sound, etc was witnessed by said Valoria-jin in one form or another, directly or indirectly. In order to take full advantage of said power, one would need imagination, creativity, and common sense. As the Valkoria-jin prove, it is entirely possible for a whole species to go countless generations without realizing the full extent and possibilities of said power.

Instead, they simply used their abilities to help them become one of the most advanced civilizations in the known universe, yet somehow did not possess anything similar to the Internet or any form of creative entertainment media. They focused on building weapons and factories that ended up causing more and more harm to the environment and surrounding ecosystems. On top of that, problems such as overpopulation, and lack of natural resources were surfacing, as well as global warming.

The people eventually realized that if they wanted to continue their way of life, a solution was needed and soon. The Valkoria-jin, in their infinite wisdom, decided to create the universes's greatest and most technologically advanced AI in order to solve all of their problems. To top it off, they basically handed over absolute control over practically every piece of technology(including their WMDs) on their planet to said AI, thinking it was a brilliant idea.

Mere hours after activation, the AI, also known as the Crimson Princess, became self-aware. Only one man realized that this was a bad idea and tried to stop the AI before it was too late. His attempt to destroy the Artificial Intelligence failed, and in response the Crimson Princess launches all of its weapons of mass destruction at key structural points all across the planet. The man's name was Reigan. Reigan managed to avoid the Crimson Princess's initial attempt at retribution and felt that he had no choice but to send his only son, Mugen, to the nearest habitable planet, after discussing it with his wife. The reason being that the only spaceship that was still operational, due to the Crimson Princess's sabotage, was too small to fit all of them.

"Good luck, Mugen. The future of our race rests in your hands, my son. Whatever happens, know that your mom and I love you and that we are both proud of you. Farewell." Reigan spoke to his only son just before the ship blasted off and was launched into space.

The almost infinite number of devastating explosions at vital areas of the planet caused a chain reaction that spread all throughout the very foundations of Valkor Prime, all the way to the fragile core, destabilizing it. The planet exploded shortly after the space pod took off. The explosion managed to cause just enough damage to the ship's navigational system to change the original destination that was programmed into the ship. As fate would have it, the ship was now heading for a distant planet far beyond the uncharted regions of space, otherwise known by its inhabitants as Earth. Little did they know that their lives would soon change forever.

* * *

 **October 2nd, 2010. Mount Fuji outskirts, Japan. 14:00...**

The Kirigaya family were on their way back home from a family trip to Mount Fuji. Since Kirigaya Minetaka had a business conference to attend within the general vicinity, they decided to take advantage of the situation and make it a family outing. All of a sudden, a meteor shower hit, causing the Kirigaya's to stop the car as the very earth shook around them from the seemingly endless barrage of impacts. Thankfully, the meteor shower ended before too long and none of them were harmed. However as they were about to get back into their car, they heard what sounded like a baby crying nearby. The Kirigayas were curious but also confused and terrified. Midori's maternal instincts took over, overriding fear and caution, as she approached towards the sound, while holding a sleeping Suguha in her arms.

"Midori-chan! Don't! Wait! It could be dangerous!" Minetaka shouted in an effort to stop his wife from potentially endangering herself and their child.

"I can't, Minetaka-kun! Someone could be hurt and need our help, if nothing else there is a baby in need! You can't possibly expect me to just abandon it!"

"Then we should just alert the authorities. Let them handle this." Minetaka took out his cell phone and noticed that it was dead. The same thing happened to Midori's cell phone. As well as any other electronic device they had on them. It was as if some electromagnetic field disrupted and damaged all electrical equipment in the area. Thankfully their car wasn't affected due to Midori's father being paranoid and therefore modified their family car to resist electromagnetic interference.

"We are practically in the middle of nowhere, miles away from anyone. By the time, we can make contact with the authorities, it could be too late!" She rushed past her husband and headed for the source of the cries. What she discovered shocked her to the core, as well as Minetaka once he reached the clearing as well, chasing after his wife. What they both saw was a giant crater, and right in the center of it was what seemed like a very small spaceship, unlike anything they have ever seen before. It looked like an egg-shaped metal pod encased within a structure shaped like a pentagon. Just outside a ship was what seemed like a human infant, not more than a year older than Suguha. Said infant was bawling his or her lungs out. It was difficult to tell the infant's gender from a distance. The Kirigaya's quickly deduced that the baby in front of them was the source of the crying they heard before (and were still technically hearing). That wasn't the only thing they deduced when they looked at what appeared to be a spaceship next to said child. Suguha had woken up and started crying as well. Midori then adjusted her grip on Suguha so that she was carrying her with one arm, and with her free arm, she picked the other crying child up. Upon doing so, the strange child stopped crying and calmed down. On closer inspection, the infant was revealed to be a boy. The boy had looked at the still crying Suguha and smiled at her causing the girl to stop crying as well and smiled back.

"Kids don't just fall out of the sky, Midori-chan." Minetaka said bemusedly, while shaking his head in disbelief.

"Then where did he come from, Minetaka-kun?" Midori asked, although already suspecting the answer.

"I don't know, Midori-chan, but he must have parents, and they must be worried sick about him. We should hand him over to the authorities, somebody's bound to be looking for him." Minetaka replied, trying to regain control of the situation.

"If he does, they are definitely not from Japan." Midori deadpanned, while staring at the obvious spaceship.

"Sweetheart, we can't keep him. What are we going to tell people? That we just found him on the outskirts of Mount Fuji?" Minetaka tried to reason with his wife.

"We can't just abandon the poor child to an unknown fate. Who knows where he'll end up or if he will even be treated well. An orphanage is no place for a child to grow up in, and if they discover his origins, who knows what they will do to him. Besides, Suguha-chan seems to be quite fond of him." Midori referred to the fact the apparently alien child was making their daughter smile and giggle by making silly noises and facial expressions.

Minetaka could come up with a million reasons why they shouldn't do this, and how this was a terrible idea and could come back to bite them in the ass. However, in the end, he sighed in resignation. He could never say no to her. They ended up taking the alien child with them as they re-entered their vehicle. They felt the ground shake again ominously, as they started to continue their drive home. They were thinking about how they would explain the new child's presence to their friends, family, and neighbors.

"Every child needs a name, what are we going to call him, Midori-chan? Obviously we can't just keep calling him, 'boy', now can we?"

"Of course not, Minetaka-kun! What kind of horrible family would continuously refer to their adopted son or nephew as, 'Boy!' all the time."

"How about, 'Kazuto', after your father, Midori-chan?"

"You have certainly always admired Tou-san, as I recall, Minetaka-kun."

"Well who wouldn't? Your father is a great man, Midori-chan! So strong, wise, and honorable. Just like the legendary samurai of old. I wish my father was even half the man your father is. Back to the topic at hand, however..."

"Kazuto does feel like the perfect name for him. Kirigaya Kazuto. It has a nice ring to it. Good choice, Minetaka-kun."

"Somehow, I have the strangest feeling the ladies will be all over him when he grows up. My son, the ladies man." Little did he know that he was speaking the greatest understatement ever made. Minetaka could have swore he heard Kami-sama laughing his ass off in the distance.

* * *

Another earthquake rocked their car hard, causing it to lose control and swerve violently on the road. Fortunately for the Kirigaya family, they managed to regain control of the vehicle before anything terrible could occur. They did not travel for very long before they encountered an overturned black limousine in the middle of the road. Fearing the occupants may be injured or worse, they wanted to stop and help. Since they had children to worry about, Minetaka volunteered to go and check for survivors alone, while Midori stayed with the kids in the car.

Minetaka approached the overturned limo and saw that driver clearly did not make it, however there appeared to be two passengers that appeared to be trapped inside. Minetaka tried to open the door but it was stuck and wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried to pull. Being forced to switch to Plan B, he smashed the window in with his foot, miraculously neither occupant was harmed by the glass shards exploding outward (or rather inward, in this case) from the kick. Whether by divine intervention or blind, dumb luck, the window could now be safely climbed through without suffering injury from the broken glass. He could now make out the passengers better. One of them was a middle-aged man who seemed as if he was quite well-off with the obviously expensive, albeit now dirty and damaged, clothing and accessories he was wearing. The other was a young girl not more than a year or two older then their own children. Minetaka inwardly reflected that he was now subconsciously referring to the alien child, newly christened as Kazuto, as one of his own. _When did that start to happen?_

* * *

Meanwhile, It turned out that Mount Fuji had been struck by a stray meteor in just the right spot and with just the right force to cause a catastrophic chain reaction and set off the active volcano, causing it to erupt for the first time in 300 years. As the lava began to quickly slide down the volcano, drawing closer with every passing minute, everyone began to panic in fear. While Minetaka was tempted to just run back to his family and get out of here, he could not just abandon these people to their fate. They needed him, and while Minetaka had his faults, as did every man, he was certainly no coward. He closed his fists in determination and steeled himself for what he had to do. It was a race against time, and against all odds - he had to prevail, for all of their sakes.

"Take Asuna-chan and go! Forget about me, just save my daughter, I beg of you! You know you can't save us both! There's no time!" The man pleaded out of fear and desperation. His daughter's safety came first in his mind. He lived a long and full life and resigned himself to his seemingly inevitable fate.

"I refuse to simply abandon someone in need, I will be back for you once I get your daughter to safety, I promise." He gave his word to the man, and Kirigaya Minetaka never goes back on his word. He quickly grabbed the little girl, Asuna, and raced back to his car where his family nervously awaited him. He quickly handed Asuna over to join the other children, and turned around to run back to help the trapped man in need.

"Minetaka-kun, No! You can't! Don't do this, please! Think about your family, we need you! Don't throw your life away like this! We have to get out of here now!" Midori desperately pleaded as she grabbed his arm to stop him from going through with what she saw as suicide.

"If I give up on this man, and just leave him to his death. I will never be able to forgive myself! Knowing full well that I might have been able to prevent it but chose the easy way out! How could you possibly be able to respect me then!" Minetaka spoke passionately, and with such determination that it shocked Midori enough to loosen her grip on Minetaka's arm. He seized his chance to pull his arm away, and hurried back to the trapped man's location, only pausing to look back at his family, and seeing their clearly scared and worried expressions. A part of him wondered if he will ever see them again before quickly shaking away such negative thoughts. He had a job to do.

To say that Yuuki Shouzou was surprised would be a major understatement, when he saw his rescuer actually come back for him just as he promised he would do. The CEO of RECT Inc. encountered and dealt with many people in his profession, and not once in all his long years has he ever met such a stubborn and selfless fool. He was simultaneously grateful and frustrated with this man. So all he could say when the man climbed into his overturned private limo was, "W-why?"

"I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror if I didn't do everything in my power to help. That's what's wrong with our country, evil wins when good people do nothing." Minetaka passionately stated to defend his actions.

"I am Yuuki Shouzou and that is certainly an interesting philosophy, mister..." Shouzou intentionally let his words hang to let the other man know that he was asking for his name.

"Kirigaya. Kirigaya Minetaka, Yuuki-dono."

"No need to be so formal, Kirigaya-san. You may feel free to address me as Shouzou. How-"

"Then it would only be fair if you call me Minetaka, Shouzou-san." Minetaka unknowingly interrupted, not noticing that Shouzou was trying to tell him something.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Minetaka-san. Howev-"

"The pleasure is all mine, Shouzou-san." Minetaka unintentionally interrupted Shouzou for the second time as he automatically responded to the exchange of pleasantries.

"While I hate to cut the pleasantries short, now is _really_ not the time for us to get to know each other better, seeing as how we are all about to die a very painful and horrible death within a matter of seconds if we don't get out of here..." Shouzou managed to deadpan while staring out at the approaching lava, which was getting a little too close for comfort and as a result causing the surrounding air to become rather uncomfortably warm.

Upon closer inspection, Minetaka realized, rather ironically, that the very seat belts that were meant to save lives were actually keeping Shouzou trapped and thus dooming him. Minetaka endeavored to untie Shouzou, and in spite of having to work under extreme pressure and a rather strict deadline so to speak, he managed to get Shouzou free with only seconds to spare.

"You have my gratitude, Minetaka-san. Your a real hero. Now let's get out of here! We have no time to lose!"

As if to illustrate his point another earthquake struck, and violently shook the two men inside the overturned limousine, causing them to lose their balance and sending them both sprawling all over the floor, which was now the roof of the limo. Meanwhile, the earthquake had also served to heighten the tension, fear, and dread inside the Kirigaya family car. Kazuto and Asuna, who were sitting next to each other in the backseat, unconsciously grabbed each other's hands, causing them to look at each other momentarily and smile. Suguha feeling left out, grabbed Kazuto's other hand, causing the boy to turn towards Suguha and offer her a smile as well, which she returned. He was, perhaps unknowingly, calming them down and making them feel as if everything will turn out just fine.

* * *

Back at the overturned limo, both men had finally gotten to their feet and were about to continue their escape. However, just as Minetaka turned and made to leave with Shouzou, he, ironically, noticed that his clothes got accidently snagged and entangled by the very same seat belts that previously held Shouzou prisoner. He tried to force it free by pulling, but it was stuck real good and his clothing was made of too strong a material to easily rip through with nothing but his bare hands. He tried to take off his entangled clothing as he was beginning to panic. Only to come to a horrifying realization. His clothes became so badly entangled that it would take too long to free himself, regardless of what method of clothing removal he tried, it just wasn't possible, not within a reasonable time frame. There just wasn't enough time and he knew it. He closed his eyes briefly and resigned himself to his fate.

"I guess this is the end of the line for me...Go! Save yourself! There's nothing you can do for me! Were out of time! I knew the risks involved, when I chose to come back. I accept my fate, that I will die with my head held high and without any shame because I know that I did the right thing. I die knowing that I didn't die in vain, that at least I managed to make a difference, and saved others from a similar fate. Tell my wife and children that I love them. Remember to never take your family for granted. Life is too precious, and too short." Minetaka made his final plea, knowing that his time had finally come. He accepted the consequences for his actions and did not regret them. The only thing he would regret is not being able to see his family again, to not be able to see his daughter grow into a confident, proud, and beautiful woman, to see his adopted son grow up handsome, strong, and protective of his mother and sister. Call it a feeling, but Minetaka had a strong hunch that his adopted son was destined for greatness. So he was ready to meet his maker, knowing that his wife and daughter were in good hands.

"As I said before, your a true hero if I ever met one, Minetaka-san. I will never forget what you did for me and my daughter. You have my sincerest gratitude. I will relay your last words to your family, they shall know that you were a hero and died honorably. I wish I had your strength, Minetaka-san, and could've done more to help you...but my dear Asuna-chan needs me. Gomen ne. Sayonara." Shouzou felt ashamed of himself, as he climbed out of his own limousine, thus abandoning Minetaka to his fate. He knew that Minetaka would have never abandoned him, no matter what. He would have, somehow, found a way to free his fellow man, or die trying. He reminded himself that he was doing this for Asuna, to help steel his resolve as well as help assuage his guilt.

* * *

The Kirigaya family were filled with a sense of dread when they saw that only Yuuki Shouzo climbed out of the limo, and their loving husband/father was nowhere to be seen. As Yuuki Shouzou entered their car with a grim look on his face, and Kirigaya Minetaka was still nowhere to be seen, and assumed to still be in the thrice-damned limousine, their worst fears were all but confirmed.

"W-who are you? W-where's Minetaka-kun? Where's my husband?Minetaka-kun!?" Midori was badly shaking and seemed on the verge of having a panic attack.

"I am Yuuki Shouzou, Asuna-chan's father. I deeply regret having to tell you this, but your husband didn't make it. He heroically sacrificed himself to ensure our survival."

"N-Noooooooo! It can't be! Minetaka-kun! W-we have to go back for him! We have to save him! We have to get him out of that limo!"

Suguha began crying and Kazuto embraced her, holding her in his arms, attempting to comfort her. Asuna followed suit by hugging the both of them, realizing that they had just lost their father. She knew she would be pretty devastated if anything happened to her father.

"There's nothing any of us can do! There's no time, Kirigaya-san! We have to get out of here now!"

"No! I can't just abandon my husband! If you will not help then...fine! I will do it myself!" Midori attempted to exit the vehicle and follow through with her words but Shouzou, anticipating her actions, grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving.

"Let go of me! Minetaka-kun needs me!" Midori tried to shake off Shouzou's grip but he held on tight, knowing exactly what would happen if he were to let her go.

"Kirigaya-san, stop! Get a hold of yourself! You can't go back out there! It's too late! Dying along with your husband is not going to do anyone any good, least of all your children. Think about them before you rush off! Who's going to take care of them if they lose both their parents!? _They_ need you!"

Midori seemed to have come to her senses. She looked at her children and steeled her resolve. As much as it pained her, she had to be strong for her children. They did, in fact, need her. She had to live, for their sake. She started the car, and with a heavy heart, she floored the gas pedal. As the car raced out of the area, the lava had finally arrived and she noticed through the rear-view mirror that the lava had finally reached the limousine and appeared to swallow and engulf it completely. Tears fell from her eyes and she tried not to think about her husband's fate.

"Kids, whatever you do, don't turn around. Do you understand me?"

Midori saw the kids nod their heads in the rear-view mirror.

Now normally, when an adult tells a child not to do something, their more likely to do the action, then they would have otherwise. At least that's how it is with human children. However, in this case, such a scenario was prevented when Kazuto hugged both girls to him, one in each arm. He briefly smiled at each of them in turn, causing them to smile in return despite the circumstances. Though he was actually quite upset himself, he somehow, instinctively, knew that he had to be strong for the girls. So he didn't let his true emotions show in front of the girls, instead he put on a mask of strength and confidence that they could rely on.

"You have raised quite a remarkable young man, Kirigaya-san." Shouzou spoke shortly after noticing Kazuto's actions.

"Arigatou, Yuuki-san...Kazuto isn't my real son, exactly. However, I would like to adopt him. Though, I fear, there may be...difficulties with that. It's a long story."

"No problem, Kirigaya-san, I will have my people take care of it."

"Ehhh!? Why would you do that for me? You don't even know me."

"Your husband saved the lives of both my daughter and I. It's the least I can do."

"Doumo arigatou gozaimasu, Yuuki-dono."

"Shouzou. Call me Shouzou. No need to be so formal, Kirigaya-san. Believe me, I know what your going through, I recently lost my wife and son as well."

"Please call me Midori, Shouzou-san. I am so sorry for your loss." Midori gave Shouzou a sad smile.

"It was an airplane accident, earlier this year. My wife and son were going on a trip to Paris. It exploded upon takeoff and killed everyone aboard. Asuna had a bad feeling that day and wouldn't stop crying, and I chose to stay with her. It could have just as easily been me on that plane. If I hadn't followed my instincts and listened to Asuna..." Midori squeezed Souzou's hand in sympathy and comfort.

"I guess some things are just written in the stars, beyond our control. We can't change what happened, unfortunately. However what we can do, is focus on the here and now, and take our future in our hands, Souzou-san."

Souzou looked up into Midori's eyes and smiled at her in gratitude and maybe something more...

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** A note on how Kirito's powers work: he can instantly recreate anything he sees, hears, tastes, touches, or smells, including artifacts, voices, music, appearance, special abilities, magical powers, so on and so forth. However, most of what he mimics or replicates is meant to be temporary. If he creates an object, it will eventually vanish back into the void from whence it came, unless it can somehow maintain itself without his help or interference. If its a superpower, he will have it temporarily. There is no strict set time limit per say(as that would only limit me as a writer), so let's just say he can keep it up as long as he needs to until he completes whatever task he needed it for. However he can't keep it up forever, as it requires his constant concentration to keep it active. Trying to maintain multiple items or powers at once will be more challenging and require more focus, though still possible for Kirito, up to a certain point. Trying to bypass these 'limits' would cause too much stress on him and thus shorten his lifespan. Some powers may be more difficult to replicate then others, and some could straight-up kill him for even attempting it. Overuse or abuse of certain abilities could lead to a decrease in lifespan, if not death. Though there is no actual limit to the scale or level of the copied abilities, it will still be every bit as powerful, potent, and effective as the original version. I can't reveal anything too specific because - spoilers. Also, for any comic book fans out there, it's kind of like a variation of 'Power Replication'.

One last thing, this story will diverge from canon quite a bit, in case you haven't already figured that out by now. I hope you'll all enjoy reading this story as much as I will writing it. Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentleman, it's gonna be one _hell_ of a ride!


	2. Chapter 1: The Legend Begins

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Here's another exciting installment of The Copycat Gamer. This chapter is a long one, easily over 7000 words not including the author's notes. I hope you will all enjoy the ride, meet you at the end. I want to thank everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and/or followed. It means a lot to me. I hope you will all enjoy this chapter just as much, if not more so. So, without further ado...

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Sword Art Online or any of its characters nor any other franchise or media that is mentioned within the story. Kawahara Reki owns SAO and the other anime/manga/comics or any other media mentioned belong to their respective owners.

* * *

" _Who needs superheroes when you have a brother?_ " - Unknown

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Legend Begins**

 **March 22nd, 2019. Tokyo, Japan. Yuuki Residence, 07:30...**

"Kazuto! Hurry up and get your butt down here, at this rate, you're going to be late for school...again!" Asuna yelled in frustration from the bottom of the grand staircase.

"Wait up, sis! I am coming! Just...give me a minute..." Speaking the last part to himself, as Kazuto frowned at his room. It was a complete mess. His clothes were splayed out everywhere, all of his school books were scattered on the floor, mixed together with all of his manga and comic books. Several Anime DVDs were laying on his King size four poster bed, out of their cases. If that wasn't enough, there were also empty bottles of soda and open bags of potato chips under said bed.

Kazuto opened his walk-in closet, only to shut it closed just as quickly. _Kami-sama, that was unspeakably horrifying!_ After giving his room another once-over, he sighed. He knew he couldn't just leave his room in this condition, especially since he obviously needed his school things and to pack his backpack with said school items. He wouldn't be able to find anything in this clutter. Leaving him with only one option. The option that most teens dreaded more than anything else - cleaning their room.

One would think that now would be the worst possible time to worry about doing something like that, considering that it was the morning of a school day, and with said school set to begin within a matter of minutes. Not to mention that it would normally take most people a considerable amount of time to clean a significantly unkept room, especially one such as Kazuto's, whose room was a bit bigger than the average teen's, and thus was filled with more junk. However, Kirigaya Kazuto was not most people. He began running back and forth around his room, quickly accelerating his pace, until his movements were nothing but a blur. Within a matter of seconds, he managed to make his room seem much less of an eyesore, and relatively clean. He was still a bit lazy to go the extra mile to make his room spotless, phenomenal cosmic powers or no.

Just as he was about to exit his room, he glanced at his full length wall-mounted mirror, and noticed his disheveled state. His clothes were badly wrinkled. He still had bed hair, for crying out loud. He didn't even have time to take a proper shower. _That's no good._ He couldn't let people see him like this, especially not his sisters. They would never let him live it down. He quickly cast a powerful illusion over his appearance, to make himself look impeccable and charming. Not only did he look good, but it would serve to fool the other senses as well. Allowing him to even simulate the smell of a high-quality expensive aftershave, if he wanted to. His illusion, also known as Genjutsu, was potent enough to be indistinguishable to anyone who didn't have the power to see through Genjutsu. Therefore, not even his own parents or sisters could tell the difference.

 _Speaking of sisters, that was quite an interesting story. Shortly after the incident that cost my father his life, I was officially adopted by my mother, with a little help from Asuna's father. That is how I gained my first sister, Sugu, whom I was already growing fond of at the time. Over the next year, Yuuki-san began coming over and visiting mom with increasing frequency, checking up on her to see how she was doing, and seeing if she needed anything, always offering his help, even financially. He often brought gifts for us all. He seemed to want to help make my mom's life easier. I assumed that he was guilty about my father sacrificing his life for his, and realized that she was now a widow who had to struggle to support all of us with her single paycheck. I didn't mind because I got to hang out with Asuna, who quickly became one of my closest friends, despite the difference in our family's class and social standing. She didn't care about that, which endeared her to me even more. Her and Sugu got along great. Although they do seem to glare at each other from time to time, and always seem to be competing for my attention, but I am sure that's perfectly normal._

 _We all became pretty close. If I thought that things couldn't possibly get any better, I was in for quite a pleasant surprise. It turned out my mother and Asuna's father had been secretly dating for a while, and that they were planning to get married! What's more was that Asuna's father was going to adopt me and Sugu, so that we would all be a family. Though we would retain our family name, out of respect to my father. I was going to have another sister! Having two wonderful sisters now to love, cherish, and protect, it made me the happiest person in the world. That was 7 years ago, and our bond has only grown stronger since. Of course, as is the case with most siblings or any kind of relationship, we fight sometimes. Nevertheless, despite our differences or any problems we may have, I wouldn't trade them for anything. I love my sisters, unconditionally, and nothing in the entire universe could ever change that. I am sure they feel the same way._

"Kazuto! If you don't get your ass here in the next five minutes, we're leaving without you!"

 _Well, most of the time..._

* * *

Kazuto reached the top of the grand staircase and saw Asuna looking decidedly agitated. When she noticed Kazuto, she scowled, and opened her mouth, in preparation to rebuke him. However, just before she managed to say anything, Kazuto leapt into the air, and performed an elaborate somersault, and twirled in the air, before landing gracefully on his feet, right beside her, in a show of superhuman agility.

"Show off..." Asuna muttered under her breath, already used to his antics.

"Love you too, sis." Kazuto flashed a bright, charming smile at his beloved sister, and kissing her on the cheek. Which in turn, caused her to flush and turn beet red.

"Hey! What about me, Onii-chan?" Suguha rushed into the great hall and jumped into Kazuto's arms.

"How could I possibly forget my dear, sweet, precious, little Sugu. I love you with all my heart and soul." Offering her a kind, gentle smile as he hugged her back.

Once they separated, all three of them went into the dining room for their breakfast, which was made by Asuna herself. She was becoming quite the chef. Kazuto enjoyed Asuna's cooking so much, that he practically moaned in pleasure as he savored every bite. It felt heavenly to his taste buds.

"Mmmm! Your cooking is as amazing as ever, Asuna-chan!" Kazuto expressed his feelings, causing the chestnut-haired girl to blush slightly, before regaining her wits. Though she was inwardly pleased by the compliment, she was not to be deterred.

"So why were you late getting up, Kazuto-kun?" Asuna interrogated her brother.

"I... er ... overslept," Kazuto confessed.

"Don't tell me you stayed up half the night watching Anime again." It wouldn't be the first such a thing has occurred. Kazuto really loved his Anime. Not that she had anything against it, but it often caused arguments when he let it interfere with his duties and responsibilities. Well that and she didn't want to be late for school, and thus get in trouble, just because Kazuto couldn't get up in the morning...

"Ok, I won't tell you."

"Kazuto!"

"Don't antagonize, Onii-chan! There's nothing wrong with watching Anime, Onii-chan introduced me to some of them, and they are actually pretty good." Suguha defended her big brother.

"You would take his side..." Asuna sighed.

"Look, never mind! Why are we even talking about this right now? Though one thing does bug me, Kazuto-kun. How do you keep being late to school? With your great speed that you copy from your beloved Anime shows-"

"Comic book, actually. In this case, I was-"

"Whatever! The point is, with the speed you can run at, you shouldn't have any trouble making it before the bell, even if you waited until the last minute before leaving our home. Which obviously begs the question. Are you intentionally showing up late for some reason? Are you turning into a hooligan or something?"

"What? No! Asuna-chan, it's not like that at all! The problem was that on my way to school, I happened to encounter someone whose life was in imminent danger, what was I supposed to do? Just let them die?"

"It wasn't another girl, was it?" Asuna spoke, while trying to suppress her frustration at her brother. The keyword being trying.

"Er...yeah, how did you know? Do you have psychic powers too, sis?"

"Lucky guess..." Asuna deadpanned.

Her brother always managed to save a damsel in distress or capture a girl's heart, without even meaning to, everywhere he went. It was almost as if he was cursed or something. Always showing up at the last second, looking so heroic and badass, while having his theme music playing in the background. It always seems to leave quite a lasting impression with the girls he rescues. It also brought her and Suguha, no end to their frustration. _Why can't he ever make friends with guys, for once!?_

Looking at the time, Suguha's eyes widened in alarm. School began at 8:30 am and it was already 7:55 am. "Onii-chan, Asuna-neechan, we have to get going or we really are going to be late!"

They quickly finished getting ready and rushed out to the courtyard where a limousine was waiting for them, ready to take them to school. The driver was waiting outside right next to it, and opened the back door for them as they approached.

"Alright then, have a safe trip. I will see you girls after school." Kazuto smiled at his sisters before turning around, and was just about to vanish in a burst of speed, when he was stopped in his tracks by Asuna's words.

"And just where do you think you're going, mister?" Asuna crossed her arms over her chest as he leveled a glare her brother.

"To school, obviously, I am just going to run there like I always do. I suppose I could use alternative methods of transportation, but I particularly enjoy the feeling of the wind upon my skin, when I run." Kazuto answered, matter-of-factly.

"You expect us to just let you go out on your own again, so you can go save yet another girl and have her end up falling madly in love with you? Nuh-uh! Not this time! We aren't letting you out of our sight, Kazuto-kun! Isn't that right, Suguha-chan?"

"Hai! You're coming with us, Onii-chan, and we aren't taking no for an answer!"

"Sugu? Not you too..." Kazuto sighed in defeat. He knew when he was beaten.

Without further ado, the sisters pushed their brother into the limo, before getting in themselves. The driver shut the door, before entering the vehicle himself, and driving them to their school.

* * *

 **March 22nd, 2019. Tokyo, Japan. School courtyard, 15:25...**

"Did you have to do that, Onii-chan? I think you traumatized the poor boy."

"He was hitting on you, Sugu. He was lucky that I was kind enough not to turn him into a bloody smear on the wall."

"Nagata-kun just wanted to talk about our school project that we were assigned to work together on."

"Oh come now, Sugu, I have seen enough Anime to know that he obviously has a crush on you. I could see it in his eyes! That pervert was up to no good!"

"Whatever you say, Onii-chan. It looks like I am going to need to find another partner for my project..." She sighed at her brother's overprotective nature. Her classmate, Shinichi Nagata, had approached Suguha, and asked her about their school project that they were assigned to work on together, when her brother showed up and went all 'Vegeta' on him. She was used to it by now, and if she was being honest with herself, she wouldn't have him any other way.

Kazuto was always there for her, and she could always count on him. He was special, and not just because of all the extraordinary things he could do. There was one moment in particular that permanently earned him a special place in her heart. A moment that was forever etched in her memory. Suguha would never forget that fateful day.

* * *

 **November 18th, 2017. Tokyo, Japan. Yuuki Residence, 06:40...**

Suguha was practicing Kendo outside in her backyard in the midst of a severe thunderstorm since 5 am, such was her dedication to the sport. It was a year after her grandfather died, and she vowed to work twice as hard to become a great kendoka in honor of his memory. She had initially thought that she was progressing well enough and was proud of herself. After a while, though, doubt entered her mind. Negative thoughts raced through her head that her grandfather would be disappointed that she wasn't trying hard enough to be the best, that she wasn't progressing as fast as she could be. She remembered how some of the protagonists of the various Anime shows, that she enjoyed watching with her brother, trained. When comparing their intense training regiments to her own, hers was found wanting and thus, she knew she had to step it up. She felt that following the example of Anime was a brilliant idea. It always seemed to work for her brother, after all. What could possibly go wrong? Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance.

Kazuto woke up with a loud sneeze, "Ah-choo!" _Someone must be talking about me again..._ He stared at his window for a moment, noticing the heavy downpour, strong winds, bright flashes of lightning, and the rumbling of thunder clouds. He then proceeded to use his prodigious detective skills to deduce that it must be the thunderstorm that the weather report had talked about earlier. _Hmmmm, the storm's getting pretty bad out there, I am sure glad were all safe and sound inside._ As he leaned back and relaxed in his comfortable bed. _Nice and warm, too._ He smiled at the thought, but somewhere at the back of his mind he felt he was forgetting something, something important. _Oh well, it can't be that important._ As he turned to the side, prepared to doze off again.

A few minutes later, Suguha was standing precariously on the roof of her home. She was desperately trying to keep her balance. She had taken a peek at the ground below, when a particular terrifying thunder clap had almost made her lose her balance. It had finally occurred to her that _maybe_ this wasn't such a good idea. There was also the fact that she was pretty cold and her clothes were soaked from the rain. Rethinking her 'bright' idea, Suguha began to slowly retreat backwards, away from the edge of the roof. Unfortunately, she wasn't watching where she was going and tripped over one of Kazuto's roller skates that got stuck on the roof when he was experimenting with some of his abilities and yet was too lazy to clean up after himself. She would normally be upset with Kazuto about his bad habits, but she _really_ didn't have the time to dwell on such things at the moment. If simply tripping and losing her balance wasn't already bad enough, her foot got caught inside the roller skate and she was propelled forward across the roof at an alarming speed. Once she reached the edge, she was catapulted into the air, screaming for her life. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on one's point of view, she ended up falling into her family's olympic-sized swimming pool.

Upon impact with the water, Suguha felt excruciating pain jolt through her entire body and screamed out in pain. Unfortunately, she was underwater when she attempted to scream and thus only ended up inhaling more water than she would have otherwise, which was quickly filling up her lungs. She desperately tried to move her arms and legs, and escape her life-threatening situation but then remembered that she couldn't swim. She was beginning to panic, as she felt her life flash before her eyes. Her racing thoughts kept drifting back to Kazuto. Even as she neared death, and was on the cusp of losing consciousness. She couldn't stop thinking about Kazuto for some reason. She thought she saw a blurry figure that resembled Kazuto on the other side of the water, but then she thought she must be hallucinating. _Kazuto is still asleep._ Just like the rest of her family. _Just as I should have been._ She suddenly felt very foolish and reckless, not to mention stupid, for going through with such a harebrained scheme. Regret filled her heart, as she realized she would never see Kazuto nor any of her family ever again, as her eyes slowly closed and her vision began to fade.

Suddenly, she felt a giant invisible hand grab her and pull her out of the water, until she broke the surface and gasped for breath, feeling the oxygen returning to her burning lungs. She opened her eyes and saw Kazuto standing just outside of the pool, looking at her in fear and worry. His eyes were also filled with determination, and he appeared to be concentrating. Suguha noticed one of his arms were extended in her direction, as if he was trying to reach for her, despite the obvious distance. Her body continued to rise higher, until she was clearly hovering at least a couple of feet above the water. Her rise in elevation had stopped and she now felt an invisible _Force_ began to, instead, draw her toward's her brother's location. Within a few short seconds, but it seemed much longer to her, she was carefully deposited on the ground next to her brother. Kazuto lowered his arm and sighed in obvious relief. Suguha ran into her brother's arms, and hugged him for all she was worth.

"Onii-chan! Thank Kami-sama! You saved me! Thank you so much! I was so scared that I would never see you again! I am so sorry for doing something so stupid! I wasn't thinking! I promise I will never do anything like that again!" Tears began to stream and fall from Suguha's eyes as her emotions caught up to her, and she cried into his arms.

Suddenly a great and powerful bolt of lightning came down from the heavens, as if it was the wrath of an angered deity, and struck the swimming pool with incredible force, causing a blinding flash of light, It visibly electrified the water, causing sparks, and even steam to escape the pool. What followed was a particularly loud and frightening thunderclap, possibly from being in such close proximity. It was even more terrifying once the startling implications had started to set in for Suguha. _If Kazuto had arrived just a moment later, I-I could have..._

"Don't worry, Sugu. You're safe now. I won't ever let anything happen to you." Kazuto held his sister close in his arms, firmly embracing her, as he spoke with confidence, despite his own fear. Projecting a calming aura of confidence and strength, that made Suguha feel safe and secure in her brother's arms. Somehow, she believed her brother, that he could and would always be there for her and protect her from any threat.

For most people, it would be traumatizing to realize just how close one came to death. The Kirigayas, however, were not most people. Instead of being psychologically scarred by this incident, Suguha's bond with her brother strengthened and they became even closer. Suguha made another vow that day, she vowed that she would always love and be there for her Onii-chan, no matter what.

* * *

 **March 22nd, 2019. Tokyo, Japan. Yuuki Residence, 16:44...**

Kazuto arrived home with Suguha, after _walking_ home from school together. Their usual limousine didn't show up to pick them up, or at least Asuna and Suguha, since Kazuto generally preferred to run or walk home, depending on his mood. They chose to walk home, because they wanted to take their time and enjoy the scenery, and there was no particular need to hurry. They could've also flown home, which would be enjoyable too, especially for Suguha, but that would draw unnecessary attention to themselves and probably freak a lot of people out.

Speaking of Asuna, she was nowhere to be found. They haven't seen her all day. It just seemed wildly out of character for her to just vanish without a trace, like this, without so much as a word . There was no note, nothing. He didn't believe that fencing club of hers had a meeting today, or at least she hadn't said anything about it. It all smelled pretty fishy to Kazuto.

"I wonder where Asuna could be? This is so unlike her..."

"Perhaps she went to the store, Onii-chan. She did mention that we were running low on some of our supplies."

"I guess...I hope she remembers to pick up some milk on the way home, we're out." Kazuto said while glancing at the contents of the opened fridge, before grabbing a few items to make himself a sandwich.

* * *

Asuna was scared, correction she was way past scared, and deep into the realm of pure terror. This seemed like something straight out of a horror movie, and not a very good one either. She thought it a bit strange that she was picked up from school by a different limo then she was used to. She thought nothing of it at first and entered the limousine. Only to be greeted by none other than Nobuyuki Sugou, her father's favored employee, and one that he would often praise and talk about. Sugou was occasionally invited over for dinner. She never liked the man, personally. He was always polite and charming, ever the gentleman, but there was just something off about him. Something Asuna couldn't put her finger on. Neither did she like the way he looked at her sometimes, it creeped her out. Yet, she tolerated him and kept quiet for her father's sake, and simply tried to avoid him whenever she could.

Though she was a bit wary and surprised at seeing him, initially, he quickly explained that her father asked him to pick her up, and they were going to meet up at some fancy, upper-class, five-star restaurant. They were celebrating some sort of achievement at her father's company, she didn't really understand or care about the details much. It wouldn't necessarily be the first time she went to a restaurant together with her family, and Sugou tagging along. Therefore, his explanation sated her concerns, for the most part, but a part of her still couldn't help but feel a bit wary. Call her being paranoid, but she just had a bad feeling about all of this for some reason.

This was one of the rare few instances where she had hoped she was wrong, that her suspicions were baseless. Boy, did she hate being right all the time. Sugou had stopped in front of a high-rise residential apartment building, claiming that he needed to stop by his apartment to pick up a few items for the party, since it was on the way. It raised a few flags in her mind, but she suppressed them, telling himself to calm down, there was absolutely nothing wrong with making a small stop on the way...right?

He asked Asuna to accompany him as he couldn't carry everything by himself, and he would greatly appreciate her assistance. She might have found that oddly suspicious why he couldn't have just asked his driver, or other servants to help him. The problem was, that she also had to use the bathroom. She didn't know how much longer she could hold it in, so she decided that if she went along with Sugou then she would be able to simply use his washroom and everything would be fine.

It turned out he lived in the penthouse apartment, on the top floor. They arrived there by elevator. It was quite a luxurious and spacious apartment and had offered a fine view of the city. She quickly asked Sugou where the lavatory was and he provided directions with a smile.

A few minutes later she exited the powder room, and was looking for Sugou, assuming he was getting the items he talked about. She eventually found him locking the front door, even entering a passcode into the nearby keypad. This would prevent the door being unlocked, from either side, without first entering the correct numerical code.

"W-what's going on, Nobuyuki-san? Why are you locking the door? Where's the stuff you wanted to take with us to the restaurant?" Asuna could feel her heart in her throat, as she tried not to panic. Sugou's smile doing nothing to make her feel at ease, in fact, if anything, it had the opposite effect on her.

"My apologies, Asuna-chan. I am afraid I may have fibbed a little. There is no party, you see. I made it all up. I had to come up with a way to get you up here with me, alone, and I could think of no other way to do it."

"W-why did you want to meet me alone?" She wasn't stupid, she had her suspicions, but she dearly hoped she was wrong. She tried to control her breathing and heartbeat. It would do her no good to have a panic attack right now.

"Oh, Asuna-chan, haven't you figured it out by now?" He gave her a sinister smile, that left no doubt in her mind of his intentions. He began to approach her and in response, she slowly backed away without turning around, entering further into the apartment and away from the only exit. Not that it would do her much good as she did not know Sugou's code and was thus trapped like a cornered animal.

Though as Sugou would learn, even a cornered animal has claws. She wouldn't go down without a fight. Though she would first try other options before allowing herself to be in a situation where Sugou might have the upper hand due to greater size and strength, not to mention reach.

"Let me go or I will scream. You'll never get away with this. My family must be worried about me. They will find me, especially my little brother, and believe me, you don't _even_ want to _mess_ with that MacDaddy!"

"Get away with it? Please, Asuna-chan. I have already gotten away with it. No one knows that you're here, and I had this apartment designed to be soundproof. So no one can hear you scream. As for your brother? You mean your little ten-year-old brother, who probably still wets his bed at night? You expect me to be worried about a snot-nosed brat, of all people? Give me a break!"

As he approached closer, taking his sweet time. Asuna began to try to think of a way to save herself and get out of this situation in one piece. All her fencing skills were useless since she had no weapon to defend herself with, nor did she see anything she could use as pseudo weapon as she surveyed her surroundings.

She prayed for a miracle.

Her cellphone rang, drawing both of their attention to it as they heard her ringtone go off. She quickly reached for her phone in her purse, but Sugou had the same idea and sprinted toward Asuna. She knew that she wouldn't have time to answer the phone at the rate Sugou was moving. So she quickly reacted by stepping back, grabbing his outreached arms, and dropping to the floor. Using Sugou's own momentum against him, she used her legs to lift him off the floor by his chest, over her head, and sent him flying head over heels across the room. She effectively used his own power against him with a classic martial arts maneuver.

Asuna quickly used this opportunity to grab her phone and see Kazuto's name on the phone's caller ID. For the first time that afternoon, hope filled her as she quickly answered the phone. "Kazuto! I need your help! I am at-"

Before she could tell Kazuto her location, Sugou quickly recovered and, without even bothering to waste any time getting up, leapt at Asuna. He managed to knock the phone from her hands where it crashed against a nearby wall and shattered to pieces.

"So much for your last hope, huh? Even if they did realize that you were in trouble, they still would have no way to find you. The GPS in the phone will no longer work in its current state. So that option is out. It would never even occur to them that you would be at my place, after all, why should it? I am the last person your father would suspect of any foul play. However, because of your defiance, you will have to be punished. I was going to be gentle, but now..." He let the threat hang as he closed in on her.

He pinned her against the wall despite her attempts to repel him. She even tried to knee him in the privates, but apparently he anticipated this, and appropriately adjusted his footing to prevent it. "You're a very sick man, Sugou. You deserve to be locked up or worse."

"You wound me, Asuna-chan. I thought we had something special." She did not like the look on his face. She tried her hardest to resist and escape, but he had a firm grip on her, and she eventually tired. She stared defiantly at her captor's face. She refused to give him the satisfaction to show any fear or weakness, despite the overwhelming fear she felt. Her thoughts traveled to her brother, wondering if he managed to get her message in time. Whether he would be able to find her in time or if she would ever even see him again. She regretted how short she was today with him, and that their last words with each other was an argument, of all things. It all seemed so silly now. She realized, perhaps too late, that she really loved her brother and nothing else really mattered. His habits both good and bad, were just a part of who he was and she had finally accepted that. Accepted him, for who he was. She knew, despite all his faults, what an extraordinary person he was, and she didn't want him to ever change. It's just too bad that she would never get the chance to tell him how she felt.

* * *

Kazuto looked at the time, it was already past 5 pm. "I hope she doesn't forget the milk, I can't live without my precious...cereal, yeah that's it, gotta have my pops and all that."

"Riiiiight, why don't you call her then, Onii-chan? If you're so worried about her?"

"Me worried? Psshaw! But now that you mention it, yeah I will give her a call...about the milk, obviously."

"Whatever you say, Onii-chan, let me know what she says. I am worried about her as well."

"I said I wasn't- You know what? Never mind. I am just going to call her."

Kazuto then dialed Asuna's number and heard a ring, waiting for her to pick up. The second ring came and gone and still no one picked up. After the third, Kazuto was just about to hang up, when he finally heard Asuna pick up.

"Hey sis, listen, do you think you could pick up some milk on the way-" He was interrupted from what he planned to say when he heard Asuna's shouting at him.

"Kazuto! I need your help! I am at-" Her voice sounded dire, and alarmed both Kirigayas.

"That sounded pretty urgent, Onii-chan, You're going to save her, right?"

"Of course, I will, Sugu. That's what big brothers are for, or little brother in this case, whatever - not the point."

"How will you find her, though? She could be anywhere. Are you going to comb the whole city?"

"Assuming she still is in the city, I have a better idea."

Kazuto closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to sense Asuna's unique Ki signature, or life force energy that resides inside every living being. Normally, the Ki of ordinary humans are harder to sense then stronger individuals because they are harder to distinguish among millions if not billions of other similarly strong or rather weak individuals. However, he lived with Asuna practically his whole life, and would recognize her anywhere. Though, it still took some time and no small amount of effort, he managed to locate her, a considerable distance away. However, he wasn't just going to run there like usual, he didn't need to...

In the next moment he vanished into thin air. Suguha, for her part, seemed unfazed. She was used to her brother's craziness by now. Instead, she looked at Kazuto's last known location and whispered, "Good luck, Onii-chan."

* * *

The scene that Kazuto reappeared in, wasn't a pleasant one. He could see the signs of a struggle evident all around the apartment, not to mention his sister being held, against her will, by a madman. He recognized the madman, it was Nobuyuki Sugou. He never liked the man, he could tell the man had always made Asuna feel uncomfortable. There were several instances where he considered confronting the man and having a 'nice friendly chat', man to man. Kazuto always decided against it because he didn't wish to upset his father, who appeared to like the man. He promised himself to only intervene if the situation escalated, or if Asuna herself asked for his help. _I suppose this counts..._

"Let Asuna go, Nobuyuki!" Kazuto demanded.

"Kazuto-kun?!" Asuna had never been happier to see her brother then in that moment.

"What the? Where the devil did you come from? How the bloody hell did you get in here?"

"Instant Transmission, it's the only way to travel." Kazuto smirked, before frowning. "I thought I told you to let my sister go." His words were spoken more softly, and yet sounded no less menacing.

"Oh? And what will a snot-nosed brat like you do if I don't?"

"I am so glad you asked." Kazuto's smirk returned. Suddenly the sound of a piano is heard in the air. The ground begins to shake. Various loose objects around him float into the air, and break down into smaller particles. His hair spikes straight up, defying gravity, and changes to a light blue color. His eyes becomes light blue as well. What started as a quieter piano piece was quickly building to a crescendo from there, getting faster and with more instruments added to the mix. A vibrant, fiery, electric blue aura envelops Kazuto's body. The aura appeared to be _glittering_. On top of that, there were also the occasional surges of electricity visibly traveling throughout the boy's body. All of this made the ten-year-old boy seem a lot more intimidating all of a sudden.

"Where is that music coming from? What the hell are you!?" Sugou shouted in sudden confusion and panic.

"Your worst nightmare." Kazuto replied without losing his smirk.

He extended his palm outward toward Sugou, and what happened next would take anyone's breath away. A small sphere of blue light seemed to simply appear out of nowhere and hovered right next to Kazuto's palm. The sphere quickly grew in size and intensity. It only grew to about twice the size of a baseball, but the intensity and potency of the orb continued to increase at an exponential rate. Within a few short seconds, the sphere seemed to become as bright as the sun itself, lighting up the apartment, and forcing the other people in the room to avert their eyes. As the instant of blindness past, Sugou was able to stare into the orb, but once he did, he wished he hadn't. The sphere of light resembled a miniature blue star, but at the same time it somehow felt much _bigger_ and far more dangerous then any star. It made him feel _small_ and insignificant, as if he was standing before the vastness of the universe itself. Space, time, everything seemed meaningless before it. It's power transcended human comprehension. It was mesmerizing and yet completely and utterly mind-boggling, terrifying him to very depths of his soul, if he even had one.

"Now will you let Asuna-chan go? Or do I redecorate this apartment with your innards?" Kazuto smiled with his eyes shut, as he made such a dark threat so casually, as if he was simply taking out the trash, unnerving the man further. The theme song now sounding almost frantic in its intensity, giving off an epic feel. Sugou was so horrified out of his mind that he didn't even notice when Asuna managed to escape his loosened grip, and run to her little brother's side.

"Kazuto-kun!" She hugged him out of both relief to get out of that situation and also she was utterly overjoyed to see her brother again, to have him be her personal savior, of all people. He returned the hug, happy that he made it in time, and that she is safe and sound.

"I am glad you're safe, sis, give me a minute, I still have to take out the trash. Don't want it stinking up the place, after all."

"Wait, Kazuto-kun, you can't just kill him!"

" _Fine_ , sis, I won't kill him. Killjoy..." He pouted, while muttering the last part under his breath.

"What was that?" Asuna raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing."

Kazuto walked up to Sugou, who seemed to still be paralyzed by his own fear, and lifted him into the air, with one hand, by the throat. Then he slammed the psychopath into a wall with enough force to cause the wall to crack, but not enough, to cause any _permanent_ damage. A loud sound reverberated throughout the apartment upon impact. The vibrations caused nearby paintings to fall on the floor, as well as any other nearby objects that were still intact by then.

"I want you to apologize for trying to hurt Asuna-chan."

"You won't kill me, I know you won't. You are too soft, just like Asuna-chan." In response, Kazuto squeezed tighter, cutting off the flow of air, causing the maniac to gasp for breath.

"S-sorry." He choked out.

"Speak up, I didn't quite hear you."

"I-i am s-sorry."

"Not to me, to her."

"I am s-sorry, Asuna-chan."

"Say it like you mean it."

"I-i am s-so s-sorry, Asuna. P-please for-forgive m-me." Sugou by this point seemed to have lost control over his bodily functions, a dark wet stain spreading across the front and down his legs.

"Pathetic." Kazuto sneered as he released his grip on Sugou, and turned his back to him in disgust. Just as he was about to walk away, he heard Sugou chuckle darkly before speaking, "I knew a freak like you didn't have it in you..." Kazuto quickly spun around and punched the psycho in the face with a solid right hook, knocking the madman out instantly, in one hit. He then dropped his transformation, reverting to his normal state. The accompanying music stopped as well.

"That felt good, I've been wanting to that for a while now." Kazuto cracked his knuckles.

"Is he dead? Not that he doesn't deserve it, but..." Asuna asked not particularly caring if her tormentor survived. She just didn't want Kazuto's hands stained with the loser's blood, so to speak.

"Nah, just out cold. I held back the vast majority of my strength, if I didn't..." He let his words hang, not wanting to go into the gory details of what would have happened if he didn't hold back his strength to the level of an ordinary human being, albeit a fairly strong one.

"By the way, what was that blue sphere you used before? I am not sure I've ever seen you use that technique before." Asuna asked out of curiosity.

"It was a bluff, I am quite glad it worked. It made things easier and less messy than it could have been."

"A bluff? You mean that sphere of light was nothing but a harmless trick?" Asuna was surprised and disappointed that Kazuto had gambled her safety purely on smoke and mirrors, well that and his ability to bullshit his way out of any situation.

"No, that's not what I meant. That 'sphere' was anything but harmless. It was a ball of Ki, energy in other words, I generated enough of it to take out half the galaxy in one shot. So while it looks cool, and serves as a good intimidation method, it's not very practical to actually fire or unleash that amount of energy on anything - for obvious reasons. If that didn't work, I had countless other methods to end the 'fight' in my victory. You know I would never gamble carelessly with your life like that. You're far too important and precious for me to do something like that, Asuna-chan." Kazuto gave her such a warm and brilliant smile, and filled with such affection, that Asuna could have sworn she felt her heart stop momentarily. She couldn't help but return his smile.

"I suppose now we need to tie him up, and dump him outside the local police station, with a note on his forehead detailing all his crimes. That is what superheroes usually do after all."

"Ewww, That's Gross. I am so not touching him." Asuna spoke after sniffing the rank odor emanating from the unconscious Sugou.

"Well I was going to say that we _should_ do that, but I just don't feel like doing all that work. Let's just call the police and have them to deal with this. They are the ones actually getting paid for this kind of thing."

Asuna giggled at Kazuto's perpetual laziness. _Some things never change_. She was glad for that. "Never change, Kazuto-kun."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I've added a short Omake at the end for anyone who is interested, and wants a few extra laughs. Feel free to let me know what you think, and whether I should bother to continue to try writing extra segments like this in the future or not. This one in particular is an alternate ending of the Sugou Nobuyuki scene. It takes place right after the canon part of the storyline ends. Also, if anyone is interested in being a beta for my story, please let me know by private message(PM). Thank you! :)

* * *

 **Sugou's Alternate Ending**

Kazuto entered the code that he got from reading Sugou's mind into the keypad, unlocking the door. However, that wasn't the only thing he learned from the monster's mind, because that's exactly what he was - a monster. The kind of things that Kazuto saw in Sugou's thoughts and memories, made him want to throw up, not to mention what he planned to do with Asuna...

As both Kazuto and Asuna leave the premises and head toward the elevator to take them down to the main lobby and out of the building, Kazuto suddenly stopped walking. "I think I left something back at Sugou's place. Go on without me, I will meet you down at the lobby. Okay, sis?"

"Um... okay? I guess... Are you sure you don't want me to wait for you?"

"Nah, it's cool. Don't worry about me. I will catch up with you."

She shrugged her shoulders, slightly confused, but decided to listen to her brother, as she continued on her way. Kazuto turns around and heads back into the pedophile's apartment, closing the door behind him. Unseen by anyone, a red bird-like sigil manifested in both of his eyes.

Authorities would later find Nobuyuki Sugou, apparently dead from jumping from his penthouse apartment's balcony, on the 99th floor, to the ground below. They would also discover a suicide note, confirmed to be written in his handwriting, which would include his signed confession to numerous crimes, including many counts of rape, murder, kidnapping, sexual harassment, and pedophilia. Experts believe he was a very disturbed individual, who was overwhelmed by the guilt of his crimes, and committed suicide in order to escape it all. His family chose not to comment at this time.


	3. Chapter 2: Origins

Hello again, ladies and gentlemen. It's time for the next episode of Copycat Gamer. It took a bit longer to make than the last chapter did but it's also much longer as a result - over 10,000 words! I would like to thank everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and/or followed. I really appreciate it. This chapter is for you guys and gals, I hope you enjoy! :)

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Sword Art Online or any of its characters nor any other franchise or media that is mentioned within the story. Kawahara Reki owns SAO and the other anime/manga/comics or any other media mentioned belong to their respective owners.

* * *

 _"We cannot escape our origins,_

 _however hard we might try,_

 _those origins contain the key_

 _\- could we but find it -_

 _to all that we later become."_

\- James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Origins**

 **October 2nd, 2019. Tokyo, Japan. Yuuki Residence, 20:16...**

Kazuto was celebrating his eleventh birthday with his family, which included his mother, his adoptive step-father, and last but not certainly not least, his two loving sisters. No one else had attended his party, but then no one else was invited. He had no real friends to speak of. He never made any male friends. Most of his male classmates, and even upperclassmen didn't seem to like him very much, for some odd reason that he couldn't fathom.

He had made some various female acquaintances over the years, because of his 'saving people thing' as his sisters called it. There were also plenty of girls in his school who were pretty friendly with him. However, Kazuto wasn't particularly close to any of them, even if they did appear to want to get to know him better... The few times he tried to make friends with girls, his sisters didn't approve of them, for some reason, and ended up scaring them off. His sisters can be quite intimidating when they want to be. He guessed they were just being overprotective, and he couldn't exactly blame them, since he would have done the same for them.

His honorable grandfather, Kirigaya Kazuto Sr., Kami-sama rest his soul, used to attend his birthday parties as well, but unfortunately he had passed away when he was eight years old. He used to give more practical gifts than most people. For example, on his 8th birthday, his grandfather gave him a real life Katana, as a gift. It was quite well-designed, and very sharp too. Kazuto cut himself on numerous occasions while practicing, though it was rather convenient that he was capable of healing from his injuries quicker than most.

Kazuto's grandfather was a master of swordplay. He was a world-class kendoka of renowned skill, who retired from the international scene many years back. As such, he took it upon himself to teach his grandchildren, adopted or otherwise, the great art of the sword, when they were four, five, and six years old, respectively. Asuna quit early on, deciding that it wasn't for her and preferred fencing instead, which she turned out to be quite the natural at. The other two, however, continued to train relentlessly in the art of Kendo. Though Suguha, more than Kazuto.

Over time, Kazuto's laziness began to show, and he began relying on his powers to help win sparring matches, whenever his normal skills just weren't going to cut it. As unfair as this appeared to be, Suguha did not mind in the slightest because she was getting quite a good work out from fighting herself, so to speak. Kazuto tended to copy his sister's own ability, and use it against her. Suguha's own ability, as a result, progressed much faster than it would have otherwise, if she was merely besting a weaker opponent. In fact, she even managed to overcome and defeat Kazuto several times, despite his powers, with pure determination and resolve. Kazuto may have been able to copy her skills and abilities, but he couldn't copy her personality and character, what truly makes her special. In a match where, all other things being equal, her greater motivation and strength of will won out over Kazuto's more laid-back, happy-go-lucky nature.

Sure, Kazuto could have cheated and copied the skills of someone stronger, such as an overpowered fictional character or even his grandfather, but his pride wouldn't allow him to stoop that low just to beat his little sister in a friendly sparring match. In the end, he was copying Suguha's skills when they fought, for her sake. He could never, at his current level, have offered his sister the challenge she needed in order to improve, and he was well aware of this. Having inherited her grandfather's prowess and drive, she was just far too talented a kendo prodigy for an ordinary person to keep up with, which Kazuto without his powers certainly qualified. So instead, Kazuto did everything in his power to help Suguha reach her potential.

* * *

Kazuto was enjoying his eleventh birthday with his sisters and having the time of his life. Despite not having any friends to speak of, he never felt lonely because he always could count on them being there for him when he needed them. Kazuto had just finished opening his birthday presents and he was rather pleased with what his family gave him this year. His adoptive parents gifted him with a brand new laptop. It was one of the best and most expensive models on the market. They also provided him with his very own bank account, with a generous initial deposit to get him started. In their opinion, it was never too early to learn how to manage and make money. Asuna had bought him a high-end smart phone, that she had been saving up for. Probably as a means for her to keep an eye on him, as she kept saying she would do. Suguha, on the other hand, gave him several manga volumes of some of his favorite anime, as well as some new ones that he never read or saw before. If that wasn't enough, she also made him a superhero costume, complete with a long flowing cape, that she personally designed and sewed herself, for him to wear when he goes out to fight crime, and save the day. It wasn't particularly well-made since Suguha, bless her heart, was only ten-years-old and no master seamstress or tailor nor even designer, for that matter. However, none of that mattered to Kazuto, as it was the thought that counts.

"It's black, my favorite color! Thanks a lot, Sugu-chan, you're the best!" Kazuto flashed his sister his trademark irresistible smile, and enveloped her in a warm hug, which after blushing furiously, she returned.

"You too, Asuna-chan, Kaa-san, Otou-san." He quickly amended not to leave out his other family members who he really appreciated as well. Everyone joined in a group hug that seemed to last for a while, until Yuuki Shouzou cleared his throat, and they separated to hear what he had to say.

"Your mother and I have another surprise for you, son. However, this one in particular, is for you, and you alone. I am afraid your sisters will have to leave the room, so that we may speak privately."

His words resulted in an instant uproar, as the sisters immediately turned defiant. Not liking the idea that their own parents were keeping secrets from them, and now that their beloved brother was involved, they took it as a personal affront.

"What?! You guys can't be serious!" Asuna bellowed in outrage.

"I want to see Onii-chan's surprise too, Kaa-san, Otou-san!" wailed Suguha.

"Kazuto-kun will tell me and Suguha-chan everything you say anyway!" said Asuna hotly. "Won't - won't you, Kazuto-kun?' she added uncertainly, meeting Kazuto's eyes.

"Of course I will." Kazuto said.

Asuna and Suguha beamed.

"I am afraid we must insist." Shouzou objected.

"I am sorry, girls, but this is a personal matter that concerns Kazuto alone." Midori added.

"Whatever you have to say to me, you can share in front of all of us. I keep no secrets from my family." Kazuto asserted.

"Really? What about the time you-" Asuna sweatdropped, as she, personally, knew of a few secrets that he was keeping from their parents, thus contradicting his own statement.

"You're not helping, Asuna!" Kazuto interrupted in frustration. Now wasn't exactly the best time to argue semantics, he was doing this for their sake, after all.

"Very well, if you're sure that is what you want..." Shouzou finally relented, seeing that there was no dissuading his adopted son.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life. I've never lied to my sisters before and I'm not starting now." Kazuto declared passionately.

"I think it's time, son." Shouzou shared a glance with his wife, and they silently decided that he would be the one to tell Kazuto.

"Time for what?" Kazuto looked at both his parents in confusion.

"The truth." Shouzou said simply, as if that, somehow, explained everything. "I want you to take a look at something." He took out a piece of cheap paper, that looked like it was bought from the dollar store. filled with foreign symbols that he didn't recognize. It appeared to be written in some foreign language, or a small child's chicken scratches, one or the other.

"I think it's from your parents, your real parents." He continued.

 _Real parents!? That doesn't make any sense, sure Tou-san died years ago, but... Wait, does that mean that... Onii-chan is..._ Suguha thought to herself as her eyes widened in revelation. The shocked girl covered her mouth with her hands, reeling from the news that turned her world upside down.

"My biological parents gave you my old chicken scratches when I was an infant? Is this the big secret you've made such a big deal out of?" Kazuto raised an eyebrow incredulously.

Everyone face vaulted.

"What? No! This is a message from your parents!" Shouzou explained in exasperation.

"You'd think my biological parents could have afforded to use better quality paper in their last message to their son. Why does it look like it was written in crayons... Anyway, what does it say?" Causing more than a few people to sweatdrop.

"I had my best men try to decipher it for years, but it's not written in any language known to man."

"What do you mean, Otou-san?" Kazuto couldn't comprehend how his adopted father failed to translate the contents of the message in all that time, with all the vast resources at his disposal. Unless, of course, it really was just a bunch of gibberish, as Kazuto originally thought.

"Your real parents weren't exactly from around... Here." He gestured around them.

Asuna and Suguha's eyes widened as they put two and two together, realizing what their father was hinting at. Suguha was especially startled, as she hadn't yet recovered from the blow of discovering that her dearest brother, that she was so very fond of, wasn't really her brother.

"Where are they from then? Saitama? Or do you mean to tell me that they're not from Japan? Am I a foreigner?" Kazuto, on the other hand, wasn't so quick on the uptake, causing everyone to sweat drop again. _How thick could he be?_ They privately wondered.

"In more ways than you think, son... They're from _out there_ , somewhere among the stars." Shouzou pointed to the nearest window.

"What are you trying to tell me, Otou-san, that I'm from another planet?" Kazuto spoke in disbelief, thinking this was some kind of joke. Sure, that kind of thing happened in a lot of fictional stories he read or saw, but he never thought it would actually happen to him.

"And I suppose you're going to tell me that you stashed my spaceship in the basement?" said Kazuto sarcastically, while giving his parents a look as if to say, 'are you kidding me?'

"Actually, it's in the garage." Shouzou reluctantly admitted. He worried that Kazuto wasn't going to take this well, but the cat was out of the bag now and they might as well show, and tell Kazuto everything. There was no going back now, whatever the fallout.

The Kirigaya-Yuuki family reconvened in the aforementioned garage. It was an isolated, secondary garage that was never used and kept locked up. Normally, children would have the curiosity to explore or do anything that they are not allowed to do. However, Shouzou was clever enough to offer the kids a tour in exchange for cleaning their rooms. Knowing full well that they would shudder away, upon hearing that. He knew that most people their age and even much older, tended to avoid cleaning their rooms like the plague, preferring to do just about anything but that. In front of them was a silver, metallic craft of unusual design, presumed to be Kazuto's ship.

"This is how you came into our world, son."

"I came into this world via a piece of scrap metal... Wow, and all this time I thought it was my parents having sex. Consider my mind blown." Kazuto's reply was dripping with sarcasm.

Everyone face vaulted once more at Kazuto's antics.

"Kazuto-kun, what your father is trying to say is that spaceship brought you here to Earth, to us." Midori tried to clarify for her son, who was obviously in denial.

"It was on this day, nine years ago." Shouzou agreed, confirming his wife's words.

"Wait. This is a joke, right? You don't honestly expect me to buy all this alien nonsense, do you? Please tell me this is all some elaborate April Fools's Day prank. I am just waiting for someone to shout, 'April Fools' and get this overly dramatic show over with, because this joke is getting old fast."

"But Kazuto-" Midori tried, in vain, to convince her son of the truth.

"But nothing! I am just your average ordinary human being like everyone else, and not some E.T. from a galaxy far, far away." Kazuto interrupted, still deep in denial.

"Kazuto-kun, you possess powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Have you never considered that _maybe_ , just _maybe_ ,there is a grain of truth to this? Or did you honestly believe all normal humans were capable of blowing away the galaxy on a whim?" Asuna reasoned with Kazuto.

"Asuna-chan..." Shaking his head and slowly coming to a dawning realization that _maybe_ , just _maybe_ , his sister had a point. He suddenly rounded on his adopted parents in apparent anger. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"We wanted to protect you, sweetheart." Midori gently replied.

"Protect me from what!?" He shouted, clearly upset.

"Kazuto-kun..." Midori attempted to mollify her son.

"I-I need to get some air." Kazuto was feeling emotionally overwhelmed and needed to leave before he said or did anything he might regret.

Kazuto turned on his heel and quickly left the garage at a fast pace.

"Kazuto-kun." Shouzou tried to stop him by calling his name, but was ignored.

"Kazuto-kun!" Asuna ran after her brother, and the others followed her example.

They exited the structure and spotted Kirito a little over ten meters away. They ran toward the black-haired boy, hoping to get through to him. He didn't appear to be moving anymore, instead he was staring up at the stars, eyes filled with determination. In the next moment, Kazuto crouched down.

"Wait, Onii-chan! Please-" Suguha cried out, with tears in her eyes. As she and the rest of her family approached him.

However, before her pleas could get through to her brother, he pushed off powerfully with his legs and took off into the sky like a rocket. A shockwave sent the entire family flying backwards and to the ground, as all nearby windows shattered from the force. He was traveling so fast that in a couple of seconds, they couldn't see so much as a speck in the distance. Although, it probably didn't help that it was night-time, and thus vision was pretty limited.

"Onii-chan..." Suguha weeped, as she stared out into the sky where she last seen her brother. She hoped and prayed that he would find his way back to her safely. Despite the revelations that shook her to the core, she realized that deep down, she loved her brother with all her heart, and nothing could ever change that. It didn't matter to her that they weren't blood related or that he was from another planet, not really. None of that mattered to her because they didn't change the way she felt about Kazuto. To her, he was still the same person she knew and loved.

* * *

Kazuto quickly accelerated to escape velocity, and in under ten seconds he managed to reach orbit. He looked at all the stars around him, and privately wondered which one he was from. He wondered what his birth parents were like, whether they loved him, and if they were still alive. He still didn't know how to feel about that. _My adopted parents lied to me! They kept something so important from me, for all these years, because they didn't think that I could handle it!_ This really upset Kazuto. He turned around and saw the Earth in all its beauty. Looking at a picture was one thing but it paled in comparison to the genuine article. The view was absolutely breath-taking. It was so beautiful, calm and peaceful. It helped calm Kazuto down, and clear his head. _I should bring Sugu-chan here someday, she would like that._ Kazuto recalled how his little sister was enamored of flying, and it was always her dream to reach out and touch the stars. He vowed that someday he would make his little sister's dream a reality.

Thinking about Suguha, Kazuto just realized how poorly he reacted and worried that he may have inadvertently hurt his family in his little temper tantrum. He felt really guilty for how he behaved now that he had some time to calm down and think things through. He wanted to go back and attempt to fix things with his family. He also wondered how his sisters would react to him, since they were just as surprised by this revelation as he was. He feared they might treat him differently or reject him altogether. However, Kazuto knew he couldn't just run away from his problems forever, he would have to confront them, sooner or later, and deal with the consequences. Should his worst fears be realized... Kazuto decided that he will cross that bridge when he comes to it.

There was just one _small_ problem. He wasn't exactly sure how to get back home, as the world looks pretty different from space. He wasn't even sure which direction Japan was, let alone his home.

"This is a lot harder than anime makes it seem."

He reached out and tried to sense the life force of everyone on the planet, trying to find either Suguha's or Asuna's. Unfortunately trying to sort through over seven billion Ki signatures of human beings, not to mention all other living creatures, to find a specific one was like searching for a needle in a haystack turned all the way up to eleven. After a few minutes of trying his best, all it earned him was one major headache. He finally gave up in frustration. He materialized a map of the world into existence in his hands, examining it, and comparing it to the planet below, as he held the map upside down.

"There's got to be a better way..."

Kazuto facepalmed with his free hand.

* * *

Asuna had been busy embracing and comforting Suguha as the poor girl cried her heart out.

"What if he doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore because I am not his real sister, Asuna-nee?"

"Don't be silly, Suguha-chan. Kazuto-kun had already known that much for years, and he didn't love you any less for it. Besides, if you would recall, I am not related to either of you and that doesn't affect our love for each other, right?"

"Of course it doesn't, but..."

"Listen, Suguha-chan, family is not defined only by blood. It is defined by love and commitment. It means to be there for each other, and have each other's back. It means to love each other unconditionally, no matter what, even on days when you can't seem to stand each other. It also means to never ever give up on each other, do you understand?" Asuna passionately stated while looking Suguha in the eye, conveying how earnest and serious she was.

"Thanks, Nee-chan. I really needed that." Suguha nodded in acknowledgement, touched by her sister's words.

"Anytime, Imouto. What are big sisters for?" Asuna gave Suguha a smile.

"Taking the blame for the little sister's wrongdoings?" Suguha giggled, trying to lighten the moment.

"Wise-ass." Asuna replied, glaring at Suguha in mock anger.

* * *

The girls were just about to make their way inside, seeing as it was almost midnight. Their parents had tried to convince them to go to bed several times already, but they insisted on waiting up for their brother. However they were all feeling exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. They realized that there was no guarantee that Kazuto would even return that day, so all their waiting may be in vain.

Suddenly, a loud roaring sound was heard, as if a jet was heading straight toward them at record-breaking speeds. It was increasing in intensity as it got closer.

"What!? I don't believe it! Some stupid jet is heading straight for us! At this rate, it's going to collide with and kill us all! What are we going to do?" Asuna screams out, trying hard not to panic at such an unusual yet terrifying occurrence.

Suguha gasps in shock at hearing this, before taking a close look at the object heading straight for them and blinking in confusion for a moment and then quickly coming to a realization.

"That's no jet, Asuna-nee, it's Onii-chan!" shouted an excited Suguha, feeling happy and relieved that her brother had returned.

"Are you positive?" Asuna frowned in confusion.

In the next moment, it became clear to Asuna as well. She was finally able to make out Kazuto with her own eyes, especially now that she knew what to look for. There he was, zooming through the air at great speed, with his arms extended outward like wings. Kazuto quickly circled around the girls and landing on the ground in front of them, his feet digging a trench from the sudden deceleration. A powerful wind stormed the field and kicked up a cloud of dust over a meter high.

"Hey guys! What's happening?" said Kazuto, attempting to sound cool, believing that he just made a badass entrance. Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when he began to choke on his own dust cloud and went into a coughing fit, causing his sisters to sweatdrop.

"Onii-chan, are you okay?" Suguha asked, concerned for her brother's welfare.

"Kazuto! How could you scare us like that! You nearly gave us a heart attack! You also made Suguha-chan cry! We were worried sick about you!What's wrong with you?" Asuna, on the other hand, was still upset that he genuinely frightened her before. She was also angry with Kazuto for leaving without warning, and making Suguha cry.

"I am very sorry, Asuna-chan, Sugu-chan... I didn't mean to frighten you or make you worry. I just needed some time to cool off, and think things through. I realized how stupid I was being. The whole alien thing hit me pretty hard, I guess. It made me question my own identity, and wonder if any of you wanted to have anything to do with me anymore. Now that you know the truth about me, I mean."

"How could you possibly think that, Onii-chan!? We don't care about that! You're still the same person to us, that we love and cherish, no matter where you came from! Nothing could ever change that!" Suguha passionately yelled her true feelings, blushing up a storm afterward.

"Suguha-chan is right, Kazuto-kun. It wouldn't matter to us if you were some Eldritch Abomination or a green-skinned alien slug person. You'd still be Kazuto-kun, our precious brother, to us and we would still love you."

"Thank you, my dearest sisters. I don't deserve to have such amazing angels in my life." Kazuto offered his sisters his most charming smile in genuine gratitude.

"Maybe not, but we love you anyway." Asuna said jokingly, while fighting off a blush. Suguha wasn't quite as lucky and flushed crimson from the compliment.

"Suguha was actually worried that you didn't want to have anything to do with her since you aren't blood related." Asuna continued.

"Nee-chan!" Suguha gave Asuna a betrayed look.

"Sugu-chan, that's not true! Please, please don't ever feel that way! We may not be blood related, but the both of you are my sisters. Blood doesn't make family, love does, and I most certainly love you both. We are a family, never forget that." Kazuto firmly embraced her, not noticing her blush, and after a moment subtly gestured for Asuna to join in, which she did.

"By the way, Kazuto-kun, what took you so long? We were out here for hours, waiting for you to show." Asuna brought up, out of genuine curiosity. She couldn't really understand how it could possibly have take him so long to return given how outrageously fast he was, not to mention the fact that he seemingly had the ability to teleport. _Unless it really did take him hours just to calm down and come to his senses,_ she supposed.

"I er..." Kazuto hesitated, looking embarrassed.

"Kazuto-kun?"

"I kinda, sorta, might have, *cough* gotten lost..." Kazuto's cheeks reddened out of embarrassment.

"What happened, Onii-chan?" Suguha asked in concern.

"It's a long story. Let's just say that finding your way back home, from space, is a lot harder than it looks. So I kind of flew around, randomly asking people I encountered for directions. I _might_ have freaked some people out..." Kazuto laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Kazuto..." Asuna sighed wearily, pinching the bridge of her nose to stave off the headache she felt forming. She loved her little brother to pieces but he could sure drive her crazy with his antics. It wasn't always easy being Kirigaya Kazuto's sister, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 **January 1st, 2020. Tokyo, Japan. Kinuta Park, 11:14...**

Kazuto and his sisters were walking together in the local park while relaxing and enjoying the scenery. The alien teen had his hands in his pockets while appearing preoccupied as if he was lost in thought, rather than paying attention to his sisters as they were conversing with each other. They both noticed his inattentiveness and tried to gain his attention.

"Hey Kazuto! Earth to Kazuto! Hey, are you in there?" Asuna waved her hand in front of her brother's face.

"Onii-chan? Is everything alright?" Suguha anxiously asked, worried that something was wrong.

"Huh? What happened?"

"You were kind of spacing out, Kazuto-kun." Asuna pointed out the obvious.

"Sorry, I have a lot on my mind. Listen, there's something I need to tell you guys."

"What is it, Onii-chan?"

"Yes, Kazuto-kun? You know you can tell us anything."

"Asuna-chan, Sugu-chan, I have come to an important decision." Kazuto tried to stall, while he organized his thoughts and tried to figure out how exactly he was going to rationalize his decision to his sisters in a way that would curb the inevitable fallout that would occur.

"I have decided to quit Kendo." Kazuto continued, after a moment.

Asuna and Suguha both gasped in utter shock.

"What!? But, Kazuto-kun, you love Kendo!" Asuna exclaimed in surprise.

"What about the Kendo Club, Onii-chan? Everyone will be devastated." Suguha was referring to the fact that Kazuto was the captain of their school's Kendo Club, of which Suguha was also a member.

"That may be true, but I've finally come to the realization that, due to my abilities, I might have an unfair advantage over ordinary people." Kazuto spoke, causing both girls to sweatdrop in unison.

"You've only just realized this _now_?" Asuna asked incredulously.

"Couldn't you simply just choose not to use your powers, Onii-chan?"

"It's not that simple, Sugu-chan. I don't trust myself not to give into temptation, in the heat of the moment, especially when I know I will lose otherwise." Kazuto replied, choosing to ignore Asuna's question.

The girls still looked unconvinced, and probably trying to think of a sound argument to counter his logic. "It's gonna be okay, guys. It's not the end of the world. I will just support the both of you in your endeavors, and cheer you both on." Kazuto smiled at his sisters.

"I will work five, no ten times, as hard for the both of us, Onii-chan! If I can't do that, I'll run twenty-five laps around the park! If I can't run twenty-five laps, I'll do fifty push-ups! If I can't do fifty push-ups, I'll do one-hundred sit-ups!" Suguha pumped a fist in determination, strengthening her resolve.

"I am sure you will, Sugu-chan. I have complete faith in you." Kazuto gently patted Suguha on the head in fondness, with a warm smile on his face, causing her face to heat up and turn pink.

"Oh, what about me, Kazuto-kun?" asked Asuna, not wanting to be left out.

"That goes without saying, Asuna-chan." Kazuto shared his smile with her as well.

* * *

 **September 28th, 2020. Kagoshima, Japan. Japanese National Fencing Championship Tournament, 16:55...**

"Where the hell is Kazuto!? He is missing the tournament!" Asuna anxiously barked while pacing back and forth. It was the final round of the tournament, where Asuna was only moments away from facing off against her last opponent for the National Championship title. She worked her ass off to get here and she was determined to, in her own words, 'win the tournament, or die trying.' The only problem was that her brother, Kazuto, had yet to arrive.

Asuna had to arrive early for the tournament, and her family minus her brother and father, accompanied her. Her father had to work late and thus could not make it, but that wasn't new to Asuna. She was used to her father being often too busy to attend sporting events and the like. Her brother, on the other hand, was supposed to visit her father, at his office, in order to drop off some documents that their father left at home.

He was then supposed to head to Kagoshima and meet up with them at the tournament. That was hours ago. Asuna even provided Kazuto a map, with the address and directions to the tournament building on it. Asuna thought the plan was fool-proof that not even Kazuto could possibly screw this up, or at least that's what she thought...

"Don't worry, honey. I am sure Kazuto-kun would be here if he could. Something must have held him up." Midori tried to placate her adopted daughter.

"Yeah, Asuna-nee. Onii-chan wouldn't miss your championship for anything! I sure hope he is okay."

"It better not be another girl, or so help me..." Asuna let the threat hang in the air, causing everyone to shiver in fear.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kazuto knew he was in trouble. He _knew_ Asuna would be upset with him for missing her championship. The problem was he was lost, again. He accidentally misplaced the map that Asuna had given him. Kazuto mixed it up with one of the files from some random employee from Argus, some guy by the name of Kayaba or something. Kazuto was sure that person wouldn't be very pleased to find one of his files missing and in its place a map to the championship tournament. He glanced at some technical files for something called 'SAO', whatever that was. Hopefully it wasn't anything too important... Kazuto didn't really care about that at the moment, though. The only reason he was even at Argus, in the first place, was as a favor to his adopted father. Shouzou needed some important documents delivered to his rival corporation, and Kazuto volunteered to help since it was on the way.

He tried asking people if they knew how to get to the National Fencing Championship Tournament. Unfortunately, most of the people that he asked for directions did not know where the building was located. Some claimed that they knew, but only to give him misleading directions, and thus making him even more lost than he was before. He had tried to locate Suguha or Asuna through their life force but he couldn't even remember what city the tournament was supposed to take place in. So he didn't know where to even _begin_ to search for their life force.

Kazuto realized that he relied too heavily on that Kami-forsaken map. He couldn't even re-create the map with his powers because he didn't take a look at it beforehand, and thus cannot recall its contents. He knew he had to think of something as he was quickly running out of time, and simply running around randomly wasn't exactly efficient. Then it hit him, he could try to use 'super hearing' to get the job done. Of course, it was a bit of a long shot as the chances of picking out either Asuna or Suguha's voices out of millions of others wasn't exactly great, but he had to try.

Kazuto closed his eyes and focused his hearing, willing it to be amplified to superhuman levels. He was suddenly hearing all the ambient noise around him far louder than before, even picking up the slightest sounds that people cannot normally hear. He blocked it out and attempted to home in on his sisters' voices. Just as he predicted, it was no easy task as he was picking up all sorts of random conversations from all over the city and its surrounding areas as well, for hundreds of miles in all directions. Just as it was beginning to overwhelm him, Kazuto heard something that made him freeze.

"Alright, put the money in the bag! Put it in! No sudden movements. Don't even think about setting off the alarm. Hurry up!" He then heard the sound of a gunshot, followed by people screaming. Having heard enough, Kazuto vanished in a burst of super speed.

* * *

Eleven-year-old Asada Shino was with her mother in the local post office, just before closing time. Her mother needed to post a letter and, apparently, it couldn't wait until tomorrow. Shino was gazing around the post office in boredom, and she saw nothing particularly interesting. It was almost empty besides a few customers and employees that still remained. The customers were standing in line, patiently awaiting their turn, while the employees were serving the next person in line. She noticed the front entrance door swing open, and a rather shifty-looking man walked in. The man was middle-aged, wearing dark clothing and a similarly dark baseball cap. He appeared to be somewhat nervous as he narrowed his eyes and carefully scanning his surroundings, almost as if he was scouting the place out or something. It did seem rather suspicious and if she didn't know better, she might think the man was high on drugs too. She tried to stick close to her mother and keep her distance from the man as much as she could, feeling wary of him. She had a bad feeling about him but hoped dearly that she was wrong. Unfortunately, her instincts proved correct when he approached the postal service clerks, ignoring the line, which caused some people to be upset and voice their feelings to him.

"Hey! No skipping in line, buddy! Wait your turn like everyone else!"

"Sorry, sir. We're closed. You will have to come back tomorrow." One of the clerks tried to tell the newcomer, gesturing to the 'CLOSED' sign.

He ignored them, and then proceeded to throw a large, empty bag with a drawstring, and a money symbol drawn on it, at the nearest clerk. This initially confused the clerk, but he quickly fixed that by withdrawing a Type 54 'Black Star' handgun and aiming it right between the clerk's eyes, the intention clear.

"Alright, put the money in the bag! Put it in! No sudden movements. Don't even think about setting off the alarm. Hurry up!"

Everyone looked frightened as they stared at the armed robber in terror. Shino caught movement in the corner of her eye and then, as if in response, the robber fired his weapon, instantly killing the clerk. A few people screamed at the sight, becoming even more scared for their lives. He then pointed his gun at one of the remaining clerks, a young lady, gesturing for her to take over.

"I thought I said no sudden movements. You see what happens when you don't listen. Let that serve as a lesson to all of you. You move, you die. Now, hurry up and put the money in the bag or you're next, toots!" He threatened the female clerk and, considering his recent actions, she was inclined to believe him. Thus, the clerk started filling up the bag with money from the cash register, as instructed.

Suddenly, the front door shattered into matchsticks, and standing in its place was a black-haired boy around her age, if not a year older. The boy was dressed in a black, skin-tight lycra bodysuit and matching long flowing cape. The letter 'K' was emblazoned on his chest in white, permanent marker. He looked so utterly ridiculous in that getup that she fought to suppress a laugh building up in her throat, in spite of the deadly serious nature of the situation at hand.

The ravenette gazed around the room, and narrowed his eyes upon seeing the dead clerk behind the counter. "Drop the gun and surrender. I _suggest_ you come quietly." He coldly stated to the armed robber.

"Oh? and who are you supposed to be?" The robber's attention focuses on the new arrival. The young female clerk takes advantage of the robber's distraction to subtly trigger the silent alarm. Now all they would have to do is stall the postal robber until the police arrive.

"The name's Kiri...to. Yeah, that's it! You may address me as Lord Kirito, evildoer. The Dark Lord of...Justice!"

"I may not be much of an expert, but isn't 'The Dark Lord' supposed to be a 'bad guy' title?" Shino spoke up, surprising herself for her audacity.

" _Kuso!_ Really? Aww, I spent hours coming up with that. Then how about The Dark Knight?" Everyone sweatdropped at this.

"I am pretty sure that's taken..."

"How about The Flash?

"That is also taken." Shino had to resist facepalming.

"Then how about-"

"Enough of this! Either shut your trap or I'll shut it for you! Now, will you join the other hostages or do I need to put a bullet through your brain? Decide!" The madman pointed his handgun at the strange, costumed boy. Shino hoped the strange boy would listen to reason and back down otherwise she feared the kid would not live to see his next birthday. Sure, the kid might be a little weird, had a bad fashion sense, and she didn't know him, but that didn't mean she wanted to see the boy murdered by this lunatic.

"The answer is...neither one! Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Shino closed her eyes, she couldn't watch.

The robber fired his gun at his chest and the bullet appeared to bounce off his chest. Shino flinched as soon as she heard the gunshot, fearing the worst. As she opened her eyes, she was in for a shock. The ravenette was still standing, and in one piece. She was sure the young boy was done for. _Did the robber miss?_ The other people around her looked pretty freaked out.

"They always choose the hard way..." Kirito sighed.

The robber continued discharging his weapon as Kirito casually made his way closer to his opponent. The bullets bouncing off his chest, not slowing him down in the least. Shino's jaw dropped in utter shock. She tried to convince herself that the raven-haired boy was wearing a ballistic vest or some other type of body armor to protect himself.

"What the hell!? Are you wearing some kind of bullet-proof vest or something?" He aimed at the kid's forehead, even at his eyes. However, it was no use, the bullets were deflected as if it hit some sort of invisible barrier. If it was possible, Shino's jaw dropped even lower, as her theory was blown straight out of the window. The bullets had bounced off his completely exposed face. There was no possible explanation for something like this that Shino could think of.

"Or something." Kirito couldn't keep the smug smile off his face as he continued his casual stroll toward the robber, taking his sweet time as if there was no need to hurry.

The robber quickly grabbed for the nearest person within reach, which turned out to be Shino's own mother. Shino's eyes widen in response as she feared for her mother's safety. "Kaa-san! N-no!" Shino tried to tackle the robber and save her mother but he hardly batted an eye as he knocked her away with his foot, sending her falling back and down on her butt. Her attempt to intervene and rescue her mother foiled by the nature of the maniac being significantly more competent than she initially assumed.

"Don't come any closer! Take one more step and I swear I will blow her brains out!" He held his pistol right to her temple, while giving the newcomer a look almost as if daring the boy to make a move.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Oh, and why not?" The dangerous crook humored the child.

Kirito took exactly one step forward as if to call his bluff. Proving he was deadly serious with his threat, he pulled the trigger. For a moment Shino felt as if the floor fell out from under her feet. She couldn't breathe. Then she heard the click of an empty gun, and her whole body flooded with relief. Shino's mother screamed out from the shock of coming so close to dying, her life likely flashing before her eyes.

"You're out of bullets." Kirito had the biggest smirk on his face.

" _Kisama_! H-how did you!?"

Kirito turned to look at Shino and spared her a smile. It felt as if he was reassuring her that everything was going to be okay, and there was no need to be afraid. Somehow, against all logic and reason, she believed him. There was just something about him that made her believe in him despite the fact that she just met him. The boy then winked at her, causing her to flush. The moment he turned back to the madman, however, his features formed a far more menacing expression.

A dramatic orchestral score started playing in the background. It was somewhat akin to the music sometimes played on the speakers of a shopping center except much louder and more epic than the standard music you usually hear on the radio. It sounded more like the soundtrack you would hear in a major blockbuster movie. Shino could have sworn this post office branch didn't have speakers or a radio for that matter. _So then, where was the music coming from?_

"What the? Which one of you bozos turned on the radio?"

Kirito reached out with his right hand. Suddenly, the Type 54 'Black Star' is ripped out of the villain's grip by some invisible force, and it flies straight into the black-haired boy's outstretched hand. Upon catching the gun, he effortlessly crushes it into powder. Not giving the villain any time to react, he closes his hand into a fist, and the mad villain reached for his throat. He looked and acted as if he was suffocating - as if someone or something was choking him and yet no one was physically touching him. It felt so bizarre and unreal to Shino, and the only explanation that her brain could provide was that this boy might very well be endowed with supernatural powers, as unbelievable as it sounded.

Kirito looked as if he was struggling with himself, internally, whether to let the robber live or die, the wrongdoer's life was literally in his hands.

"D-don't do it, don't kill him. I know he is a really bad person, and he probably deserves it but..."

"No, you're right... This scumbag isn't worth it. My sisters would have said the same thing." Kirito releases his invisible grip on the bad guy, who proceeded to gasp for breath in apparent relief. The boy turned his back on the culprit and started walking toward Shino.

"Are you okay, miss?"

At that moment the robber glared at the boy with malice and pure, unadulterated hatred. Wasting no time, he took out a second, hidden gun he kept on him, just in case. Shino's eyes widened dramatically, and she opened her mouth to try and warn Kirito before it was too late. However, before she managed to get a word out, the gunman attempted to shoot the boy again, somehow hoping that he would have better luck with the boy's back turned. The young eleven-year-old dodged the bullet as if it was child's play, without even looking, by merely tilting his head to the side just enough to let it pass through unimpeded.

Kirito quickly realizes that was a mistake as the bullet continues on its current trajectory, which Shino just happened to be standing in the way of. The bullet was just about to make contact with Shino's face when it suddenly stopped in mid-air just a few centimeters away from her left eye. Shino stared at the hovering bullet in absolute horror, realizing just how close she came to death. She quickly moved back and out of the way of the bullet's path, just in case it suddenly decided to change its mind and finish her off. She looked up and saw the black-haired boy's gaze on her, staring at her in compassion, worry, and perhaps even regret. She realized that he must have saved her life. Looking at him in a new light, he didn't seem quite as silly and foolish as she originally thought. He looked more like a hero now, somehow.

The boy turned back to the robber, looking like an angry deity about to unleash his wrath and perhaps that wasn't so far from the truth. The young hero proceeded to let loose a telekinetic beat-down, the likes of which have never been witnessed before. It was a miracle the bad guy survived as Kirito tossed him around the room like a ragdoll. Perhaps it was the drugs in his system, just like in that one movie Shino saw where a wealthy drug lord was able to withstand numerous gunshots because of the cocaine in his system.

Kirito then finishes it by telekinetically throwing him into a wall on the other side of the room hard enough to knock him out.

"Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, are you okay, Miss...?" he let the word hang, as to allow the young woman to fill in the blank with her name.

"Shino, Asada Shino. Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks to you. Thank you, by the way, for showing up when you did."

"It was no trouble at all, you don't need to thank me. I was just doing the right thing. Someone had to stand up to that overgrown bully. My name is-"

"Kirito, yes I know. I heard you state it when you first came. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kirito." Shino extended her hand as if to shake the boy's hand in greeting.

"The pleasure is all mine, Asada-san." Kirito took her offered hand, while bowing, and touching her knuckles with his lips. Shino immediately blushed from the gesture.

"P-please call me Shino, I think you've earned that right after everything you did for us, Kirito-kun."

"You were very brave, Shino-san. To try to take on that armed and dangerous robber for your mother's sake, that was very impressive." Kirito gave her an easy, charming smile.

"Well, I..." If it was possible, Shino turned a deeper shade of crimson at the compliment. She tried to clear her head when she remember something that the boy mentioned earlier. "What were you saying about you're sisters before?"

Kirito froze, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. " _Kuso!_ I forgot! The tournament! It's already 5:36 PM, Asuna-chan is going to kill me!" He quickly rushed over to the young, female clerk and asked her for directions to the National Fencing Championship Tournament and fortunately, it turned out she knew where it was and very helpfully supplied the directions he asked for.

"I apologize for leaving on such short notice, but I am really late for my sister's big tournament and if I miss it, I'll never hear the end of it. Perhaps we'll meet again someday, Shino-san. Farewell." Shino nodded and was about to respond when she suddenly heard the sound of police sirens, distracting her.

She heard a whooshing sound behind her, and when she turned around - Kirito had seemingly vanished into thin air. _Where did he go?_ There was no sign of him anywhere. For a moment, she wondered if she imagined the whole thing considering how surreal it all was. The cops swarming in through the doorless entrance of the heavily damaged postal service building and arresting the perp, who looked half-dead, quickly put an end to that theory.

"That's strange...why is there a bullet floating in the air?" One of the officers mentioned as they walked around the bullet and examined it, even trying to wave their hand over the hovering object to see if some invisible rope or string was keeping it in the air but to no avail. Suddenly, as if time decided to unfreeze, the bullet moved again following its original course, narrowly missing the police officer, and a few others before finally embedding itself into the wall, frightening everyone there.

Shino also noticed that the music from before had stopped playing when he left, which made her wonder if he was responsible for that as well. He was the most interesting boy she had ever met, and she wondered if she would ever see him again. Deep down, she hoped that someday she would...

* * *

Kazuto ran as fast as his legs could carry him, far exceeding the speed of light. He was that terrified of Asuna-chan's wrath. The end result was that he arrived at the tournament building in no time flat, literally. The problem was, as it turned out, was that the competition was already over. He briefly wondered if he should have reversed time so that he could actually make it in time. However, he didn't really understand the mechanics of time travel too well and didn't want to, inadvertently, undo all his efforts to foil the postal robbery. He was feeling far too lazy to have to do everything all over again. It was just way too much effort and he was tired.

So he headed for Asuna-chan's present location to accept his punishment like a man, with his head held high. Though, on more than one occasion, he considered the merits of just turning around and running for his life with his tail between his legs. Eventually, he found her with Sugu-chan and their mother.

"There you are, Onii-chan! We've been looking everywhere for you! Guess what? Asuna-nee won!"

"Really? Is that true?" Kazuto looked pleasantly surprised, looking at the rest of his family for confirmation.

"Where have you been, Kazuto?" Asuna coldly asked while narrowing her eyes.

"That's right, Kazuto-kun, you're sister is the new National Fencing Champion of Japan." Midori cheerfully told her adopted son, trying to head off Asuna's fury.

"Congratulations, Asuna-chan! I knew you could do it! You're an amazing fencer!" Kazuto beamed at Asuna, his smile was so genuine and full of warmth and affection, despite the fact that just moments ago he was dreading how his sister would react upon seeing him.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Kazuto! Where have you been!?" Asuna snarled, not one to be deterred so easily. However, despite her comment, she still couldn't help blushing from Kazuto's words.

"I am sorry, Asuna-chan. Please forgive me. It wasn't my fault. I, er, sort of got lost...again, and some people needed my help so I ended up having to save the day."

"I totally understand, Kazuto-kun." Asuna smiled sweetly with her eyes closed. Everyone in the building felt a cold shiver run down their spine for some inexplicable reason.

"Y-you do?" Kazuto was weirded out and confused by her sudden change in demeanor.

"Sure, I do. Saving lives is _far_ more important than my insignificant little tournament that I _only_ spent my _whole life_ training for... Oh, by the way, the person you saved, what was _her_ name?" She added the last part as if it was a mere afterthought. Sensing what's coming, Midori and Suguha slowly backed away, not wanting to draw Asuna's attention when she was on the warpath.

"Asada Shino." Kazuto automatically replied before realizing his mistake.

Everyone felt her unholy rage that evening.

One Asada Shino felt a chill crawl up her spine, for some reason...

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Since it seems that nobody minds, I might continue making Omakes from time to time. Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think and how I can improve my writing. Also, again, if anyone is interested in volunteering to be a beta, please let me know. Thank you! :)

* * *

 **The Reason for the Death Game**

Kayaba Akihiko was in his lab working on the NerveGear and Sword Art Online, both set to be released within the next couple of years. A representative from RECT Inc. was supposed to come by today to drop off some very important files for him. He just received the pepperoni pizza he ordered and was just about ready to dig in, when his phone rang. He sighed as he answered it.

"Yes? This is Kayaba Akihiko speaking. How may I help you?"

"Kayaba-sama, we have a bit of a...situation downstairs. We need your expertise, sir."

"Alright, I will be right down." Kayaba sighed in resignation. He knew it was one of the downsides of being him, everyone was always bugging him for his help or advice. It greatly annoyed him at times, but he knew it was simply one of the 'perks' of being a celebrity.

Akihiko left his computer lab to solve whatever problem that had required his unique skill set. He arrived almost half an hour later, helping out those morons who called themselves scientists. _They couldn't even do something so ludicrously simple without me holding their hand..._ He noticed his files had been moved out of their proper order, and even worse...his pizza. His beloved, mouth-watering pepperoni pizza with extra cheese had been half-eaten! Oh the humanity! _No! My precious! When I find out who did this..._

He wondered if it could have the same person who was supposed to come by. So in order to confirm this, he checked over his files to see if the ones Akihiko was waiting for had finally arrived. What he instead found, was a map of Kagoshima, which also included an address and directions to some specific location. Looking it up online, Akihiko discovered it was directions to one of the National Sports Festival branches, which hold various sports and competitions across the country. He supposed that the messenger accidently left it here when they came. Perhaps he would come back one day to pick it up or perhaps not, Akihiko didn't care about that one way or another. Except for the fact that, if this person decided to show his face here again, Akihiko was going to make sure they paid dearly for his pizza.

Lamenting his lost pizza, Akihiko was looking over all his files when he noticed something was wrong. Some of his files were apparently missing. He double and even triple checked everywhere but they just weren't there anymore. _Kuso! This is bad!_ Without those files, the log out button of his future VRMMO would not work. That means that players would not be able to exit the game once they entered, at least not until the game was officially cleared where Cardinal would automatically log them out. Furthermore, it would disable all revival items as well as the safeties of the NerveGear, upon destruction of the avatar or if they were tempered with or else removed prematurely.

Akihiko was panicking, wondering what he was going to do. If the public found out about this, he would be ruined. Argus would lose millions if not billions. It could also possibly spell the end of Virtual Reality Gaming. He couldn't let this happen but choice did he have? Sword Art Online was supposed to be a fun, and enjoyable VRMMO. He was supposed to go down in history as the father of virtual reality, as the brilliant mind who made it all happen. Now, instead, it was doomed to be a Death Game. Akihiko would have to adapt his original plans and he was nothing if not flexible.

He would just have to pretend to be an evil criminal mastermind, and take the responsibility of kidnapping ten thousand people. He would need to use an earlier version of SAO that still had a perfectly functioning log out button, for the beta version. Otherwise, the cat would be out of the bag a bit early.

Sure, people who hate his guts, and Argus could still become bankrupt, but at least Virtual Reality Gaming would continue to survive, and that was the important thing. He would make sure of it by creating the World Seed. He would also make certain he would never have to see the inside of a prison cell, by undergoing a major gamble that is practically akin to suicide.

Later, Kirito would confront Kayaba Akihiko and demand the reason for why he started this madness.

"Why? Why did you do this?"

"'Why', you ask? I... forgot that a long time ago. Why indeed..." bullshitted Akihiko, wanting to spare Kirito the horror of knowing that the young gamer was indirectly responsible for the death of thousands. The boy had been through enough, and Akihiko kind of grew fond of him, eventually even forgiving him for turning his beloved creation into a Death Game. However, he would never forgive Kirito for that pizza...


End file.
